I was in town yesterday and after attempting to finish off the final last-minute Christmas present list, I was shattered. I stopped in a cafe to sit down for a minute and have a drink and a sandwich, and checked my Facebook page while I was doing so. This showed up on my feed after a page that I follow shared it…
Jake’s Coffee Box is one of the smallest businesses in Birmingham, operating from a former phone box on Eden Square. It opened in August, after a charitable trust called ‘Thinking Outside The Box’ was given planning permission to convert the phone boxes into kiosks, allowing them to be rented.
What I particularly love about the business is Jake’s ‘Tea For Two’ – a pay-it-forward scheme in which customer can make a donation for a homeless person to be provided with a hot drink (with a tea costing just £1.10) – and I was particularly disheartened to see the ignorant comment that had been made by a member of the public in response.
So, realising that I was only just around the corner, I went on a mission to find him and make a donation. I discovered that Jake’s Coffee Box not only served tea, coffee and hot chocolate, but there were sausage rolls and homemade brownies on offer too! I was a bit fired up after reading the Facebook post so must have come across as a bit over-enthusiastic, but Jake was nice enough to let me take a picture and talk nonsense at him for a minute while I made my donation.
So, for those of you that are in the city, forget the big corporations – support a local business and hop on over to Jake’s Coffee Box, get yourself a hot drink and a sausage roll, and don’t forget to make that Tea For Two donation!
Don’t forget to check out his Facebook page here too!
What about you guys? Do you have a local business that you visit regularly?
You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog, and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks.
Suzie Speaks 
This is a wonderful cause and it’s sad that some people truly cannot get off their high horse!!
Absolutely! I was really impressed with the response though…
What a neat shop!
My hubby owns his own business, so we are a little biased toward supporting locally owned business when we can.
That’s great – what does he do?
Commercial facility services, which has really helped us get to know a number of other business owners.
It’s usually about the networking isn’t it! It’s the same in the bloggy world too sometimes!
this is cool…
It’s awesome isn’t it! I’ll certainly be going again!
looks like fun
What an amazing thing Jake is doing, his business and his charity both. 🙂
It’s great isn’t it!
Jake looks like a cool guy! I always shop locally, it’s so much more fun when you know people and can have a little chat!
I’m certainly going to stop by more often when I’m in town!
What a super neat idea this guy promotes! Isn’t it amazing how so many people who give and do are not wealthy folks but just ordinary folks finding ways of helping another soul?
We make donations to everyone from large organizations servings thousands to local kids working on Eagle projects in their community.
What’s an Eagle project Sharon?
Oops, sorry, I forget we’re on opposite shores of The Pond. Boy Scouts who continue through the ranks eventually reach the apex where they can pursue an Eagle project. (Very few do.) They identify a community need, create a project to support it, and then complete all the tasks of undertaking the project until it’s final and before the boy turns 18. Then the boys are awarded the Eagle Scout badge. Actually, a much longer and more difficult process than here described. Once an Eagle Scout, always. It teaches much about ethics, hard work, and community values as well as real world skills having to do with organization, working with the public, budgets, deadlines, funding, designating tasks, and completion of a major project. Kind of like being a CEO for several months. The inside story is that it teaches teenagers, who can be very self-serving, inconsiderate, and smug, to have compassion for others, and shows them that it’s tough but worthwhile to contribute to the world in a positive way. Both our sons are Eagle Scouts so I tend to trumpet the concept.
ah I get it. We have the scouts and things like that. I was a Brownie Guide.
🙂
What a fabulous idea, both Jake’s T42 and converting and renting out phone boxes as a small business! I hope Jake receives lots of support, the guy who complained needs a sharp wakeup call – hope Santa has this noted ..
That’s a great initiative. Some people can be so rude and self-centred. Homeless people aren’t ‘undesirables’, they are human beings! Good on Jake for being a decent guy. 🙂
It’s a shame there arent more like him…
I love this idea. and can’t believe that someone moaned about it! I hope he is ashamed of himself, and that Jake’s Coffee Box goes from strength to strength.
I think that the publicity on Facebook helped to boost it a lttle.
That’s great 🙂
Wonderful!
Uh oh, we certainly can’t have “undesirables” around, can we?
Of course not! We wouldn’t want the area to be brought down would we?
Such a great idea. Well done oh gushy one! Long may your enthusiasm get the better of you!
Thank you Geoffle! I get a bit carried away sometimes…
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That’s such a wonderful idea. So sad that many choose to be negative about it instead.
It’s great isnt it! And he was very patient with me haha!
I do love this – I’d heard about the idea in other cafes, though I’ve not seen it in my own town as yet. Another reason for me to come up to Birmingham (I will get there soon, honest!) Hope all your Christmas prep is done and you can relax now 🙂
You know you’re welcome anytime my lovely!
A nice cause to support Suzie. Well done for highlighting it. A cup of tea doesn’t cost much but means so much if you are homeless and in need of a comforting hot drink.
Absolutely! I’ll certainly be going back again next time I am in town…
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This is so awesome! If I lived in your area, I would totally stop by Jake’s so as to pay it forward to the less fortunate. I’m not sure if there’s anything like that around here (Auburn, Washington,) but I am definitely an advocate of supporting local businesses.
I love the local artisan things too! I’ve only ever been to the States once, and did New York, Philadelphia and D.C. in one visit…
Yes, all things artisan are great! 🙂 I always forget that you’re in the UK. How was your trip to the States? I’d love to see all three locations.
Interesting – it was a school trip that I was supervising and when we were in D.C. the volcano exploded in Iceland and grounded all flights so we were stranded there for another week! It was amazing – the insurance covered the hotel and food and we ended up getting invited to the White House for a tour because the Washington Post did a story on us haha!
Wow, really!? That is AWESOME!! You’ll never forget that trip.:)
Absolutely!
Thank you Suzie trying get caught up again just so much going on last month and this month. Wonderful Topic this month. For success always for you.
Thank you my lovely!